‘We can cope with the pressure’: Ernesto Valverde insists Barcelona will not be fazed by atmosphere as Lionel Messi and Co train at Anfield ahead of Champions League showdown
- Barcelona’s players trained on the pitch at Anfield on Monday night to prepare
- Ernesto Valverde’s side take on Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday
- Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez looked relaxed as they boast a 3-0 advantage
- Valverde is adamant that his stars will not be fazed by Anfield’s atmosphere
Ernesto Valverde is adamant that his players will not buckle to the famous atmosphere at Anfield as his players got an early look at the stadium during training on Monday night.
Liverpool go into the semi-final showdown as huge underdogs having walked away from the first leg last week on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline.
But for Valverde, Lionel Messi and Co have been to both Old Trafford and the San Siro in this season’s Champions League campaign and the Barcelona boss has no worries that his stars can handle the occasion on Merseyside.
‘We need to ignore the first leg, it would be an error otherwise,’ Valverde told reporters.
‘The fans at Anfield generate a lot of noise and passion.
‘We’ve played well at big stadiums like Old Trafford and the San Siro this season so we can cope with the pressure.’
Anfield has become a notoriously difficult place for rival teams to visit with Liverpool not suffering defeat domestically at home all season.
The famous atmosphere on European nights – games against Borussia Dortmund and Olympiacos are often cited as examples of the crowd’s impact – makes matches a spectacular occasion, helping roar Liverpool on to get big results.
A first-leg brace from Messi and another from former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez leaves the Reds’ hopes of reaching the final on June 1 hanging by a thread.
For Valverde, writing Liverpool off would be foolish having had their own experience of defying the odds against Paris Saint-Germain two seasons ago.
Barcelona were 4-0 down following a dreadful first-leg in Paris but produced one of the great comebacks in European Cup history with a 6-1 win back at home – an example Liverpool can draw motivation from ahead of Tuesday’s meeting at Anfield.
The Barcelona boss added: ‘You can change one player and lose 3-0 so who knows?’
‘We’ve played well at big stadiums like Old Trafford and the San Siro this season so we can cope with the pressure.’
‘Nothing in football is written, you’ve got to go out on the pitch and do it. We played against PSG and got six.’